Enabling Action: Reflections upon Inclusive Participatory Research on Health with Women with Disabilities in the Philippines

People with disabilities experience health disparities arising from social, environmental, and system-level factors. Evidence from a range of settings suggests women with disabilities have reduced access to health information and experience barriers to screening, prevention, and care services. This results in greater unmet health needs, particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health. Women with disabilities are also more likely to experience physical and sexual violence than women without disabilities, further undermining their health. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) can generate knowledge and underpin action to address such health disparities and promote health equity. However, the potential and challenges of disability inclusion in CBPR, particularly in contexts of poverty and structural inequality such as those found in low- and middle-income countries, are not well documented. In this paper, we reflect on our experience of implementing and evaluating W-DARE, a three-year program of disability-inclusive CBPR aiming to increase access to sexual and reproductive health and violence-response services for women with disabilities in the Philippines. We discuss strategies for increasing disability inclusion in research and use a framework of reflexive solidarity to consider the uneven distribution of the benefits, costs, and responsibilities for action arising from the W-DARE program.     

The coming of age of telecommunications in psychological research and practice

Rapid and far-reaching technological advances are revolutionizing the ways in which people relate, communicate, and live their daily lives. Technologies that were hardly used a few years ago, such as the Internet, e-mail, and video teleconferencing, are becoming familiar methods for modern communication. Telecommunications will continue to evolve quickly, spawning telehealth applications for research and the provision of clinical care in communities, university settings, clinics, and medical facilities. The impact on psychology will be significant. This article examines the application of developing technologies as they relate to psychology and discusses implications for professional research and practice.     

Gender differences,mediation, and disciplinary styles in children's responses to television

A sample of kindergarten and first-grade children was studied in a research center and at school to determine the extent to which family communication mediated their comprehension of television, as well as a series of cognitive skills necessary for such comprehension. Separate analyses were conducted for boys and girls, and results indicated that certain styles of family mediation facilitated comprehension more effectively for boys than for girls. Additionally, differential effects of two styles of discipline were found for each sex.This research was funded by a grant to Jerome and Dorothy Singer from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation entitled Television and Family Living Patterns.     

Leadership ratings for male and female military cadets

Ratings of leadership ability for 1096 male and 91 female cadets at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) were examined for gender differences. Males were rated significantly higher than females for two of the three rating periods. Correlates of these ratings were examined in an effort to explore the meaning of such ratings for males and females. For both male and female cadets, situationally specific correlates of leadership ratings were identified. Physical ability and performance were most highly correlated with leadership ratings during summer training camp, while academic ability and performance were most highly correlated with these ratings during the academic year. These correlations were generally higher for females than for males. The value of such information to organizational newcomers and the means by which such information might be transmitted to them were discussed.     

Content and temporal structure of autobiographical knowledge: Remembering twenty-five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera

Three experiments were designed to explore the structure and content of a well-defined subset of very long-term autobiographical memory. In Experiment 1, the author free-recalled in a single session details about the dates and casting of 284 opera performances seen at the Metropolitan Opera over a period of 25 seasons. Recall accuracy was measured by comparing the recall with the programs for each performance. Primacy and recency effects were prominent in recall of both temporal and casting details. Also, recall of performances was superior if the performances were included in the sequential structures of seasons in memory. Experiments 2 and 3 were designed to examine the effect of an opera performance's relative importance (or intensity) and opportunities for rehearsal of an opera performance on the author's free recall of the performance. In Experiment 2, importance/rehearsal opportunity was estimated from nine sources, including recordings, telecasts, tapes, and photograph books. In Experiment 3, the set of opera performances was rated and ranked by four opera experts on the dimension of intensity or importance of each performance. In both experiments, importance/rehearsal opportunity was related to superior recall of casting but not to recall of temporal details. Results suggest that detailed temporal structure in autobiographical memory is lost over time, whereas contents may be updated through various forms of rehearsal.     

Linking together different measures of preference: A dynamic model of matching derived from decision field theory

Two frequently used tasks for measuring preferences among gambles are choice and selling price tasks. However, the rank orders observed with these tasks do not agree, and these disagreements are called preference reversals. In this article, we propose an extension of decision field theory that was originally designed to account for choice probability and the distribution of choice response times. In this extension, we show how this same theory can be used to derive predictions for the distribution of values produced by selling price tasks. This model not only accounts for the basic preference reversal results but also can explain the effects of various information processing factors on preference reversals including time, effort, and practice. We conclude by summarizing the advantages of the decision field matching model over two earlier models of choice and selling prices—expression theory and the contingent weighting model.     

Reciprocation of generosity and knowledge of game termination in the decomposed Prisoner's Dilemma Game

Sahlins proposed a model of reciprocity for social interaction citing three forms drawn from observations of kinship systems. The model describes an altruistic form of reciprocity, a balanced or economic form and a negative form in which individuals try to outdo each other. This model was applied to a two-person variation of the Prisoner's Dilemma Game where Ss were presented with a confederate who responded over trials entirely generously, contingently generously or non-generously. Half of the Ss were informed that there would be ten trials while the other half were uninformed. Basically, Ss tended to match the generosity level of the confederate and were less generous when trial number was known. Evidence for Sahlins' model is provided by Ss reports of reasons for their choices in the game. Those in the generous condition gave reasons for reciprocating based on a general feeling of obligation, trust and desire to cooperate. Those in the contingently generous condition gave reasons for reciprocating based on economic exchange and a desire to maintain a balance of resources. Ss in the non-generous condition gave reasons based on a desire to take what profits one could before the other got them. In addition, Ss indicated a significant tendency to exploit the other on the final trial under the informed condition for the contingently generous but not for the generous condition.     

The role of semantic knowledge in retrieval from episodic long-term memories: Implications for a model of retrieval

Two experiments were conducted, using a paired-associate recall reaction time paradigm, to assess the role semantic knowledge plays in retrieval of long-term episodic memories. In Experiment I, word frequency and meaningfulness were manipulated; high-frequency stimuli led to significantly longer reaction times, while meaningfulness had no significant effect. In Experiment II, the role of the distribution of preexperimental associates of the stimulus was further investigated by comparing retrieval time when the stimulus had either a high- or low-strength primary associate; the former resulted in longer reaction times. The implications of these results for a model of retrieval were discussed. Exhaustive search models were found inadequate, but viable parallel and serial self-terminating models were developed. In both of these models, retrieval time is a function of strength of the correct associate, relative to total strength of a restricted set of semantic associates of the stimulus.